November 2018

Work on the deck and garden beds has meant that the vege garden has been pretty much abandoned – mostly limited to watering Madame Cholet and occasional planting of new seedlings.  Unbelievably the gravel paths are not overgrown with weeds.  There are some weeds of course, but relatively easily dealt with by a quick swipe of my favourite garden tool – the niwashi.  The herb beds and paths in the horse arena are weedier, so they’re the next priority whenever that comes up.

I’m working away in Westport for a few days, and am hoping the deck will nearly look like a real deck by the time I’m home.  Peter’s working furiously on it and it’s already looking great.  The new paths around it are now gravelled, and the flower bed and native bed are mulched with horse poo and topped with excess peastraw from the vege garden.  A few new plants have been added, and several more will be taken from divisions of existing plants when they’ve stopped flowering.  A beautifully scented white azalea, currently tucked in front of the Tulip Tree, has been pruned (by Karyn, so within an inch of its life) in anticipation of a move to the front of the extended bed in late summer/autumn.  The paeonies are finally out and seem to enjoy the company of rampant echium.  A hedge of Escallonia (White Profusion) will be planted along the angled edge of the deck.  It’s hardy and evergreen, and its flowers are beloved by bees. 

Despite the neglect, most veges are coming away nicely.  Too many lettuce as usual, beetroot, brassicas and snow peas, corn, carrots, beans, peas, onions, leeks and spinach.  Spuds are looking good above ground, and elephant garlic needs to be dug up as it’s going to seed.  They’ve all had an occasional hammering by the wind and frost, or been overcome by peastraw.  Not all have survived alas, and a little more attention may have improved some outcomes. 

Fruit is also filling out, so the pigs should be in for a treat by late summer.  Currants are profuse, and though the various pears have been thinned by the wind, there are still plenty of them.  Blueberries are also abundant, but will need to be bird-protected for me to get any kind of a look in.  Grapes are also expanding, and thankfully all survived a recent frost that hadn’t been forecast.  The orchard is well overgrown and I’m hoping it is enjoying being left to its own devices.  At the last count, both new trees (Cider Apple Slack Ma Girdle and Perry Pear) were taking off, but will need to be irrigated now that the days are warmer and the rainfall has dropped off.

The delightful Cocktail Kiwi, that drapes itself indulgently over the Gin Palace, has finally put on a great show of flowers.  It’s flowered before but failed to bear fruit.  This time the flowers are way more profuse and I hope I’m not setting myself up for too big of a fruit disappointment.  I had warned it that it was 'fruit or die'.  Luckily it didn’t know I wasn’t serious.  It’s a lovely plant that I’d struggle to do away with.

Molly has checked the mead out and agreed that some was ready for bottling.  The 23 litre demi-john with creamed honey mead, and the dark, runny honey mead were still bubbling, albeit infrequently.  The Honeydew, granulated and Mānuka meads had stopped fermenting, so with Molly’s help, are now maturing away in bottles.  I’m wondering if anyone has ever converted perfectly good Mānuka honey into mead before?  I was going to say ‘wasted’ but really it’s just a decadent use of very valuable honey.  Could Mānuka mead be as medicinal as its honey?  Maybe medicinal in a different, kind of glazed, way.  Sounds like a bloody good reason to drink it at least.  Tasting during bottling was obviously a necessity, and happily all three were a real treat.  Even the granulated honey mead that had been less promising at the last racking was beautifully drinkable. 

The Muller frost has been trumped by a (hopefully) final frost and snow fall in the mountains in the small hours of November 20^th.  The grape growers were up in arms about the audacity of so late a cold snap.  It’ll officially be summer on December 1^st, so they have a fair point.  I’d returned very late from work but just managed to throw some frost cloth over the most tender veges.  The mountains and hills were clothed in snow and looked absolutely awesome.  Mount Riley got a good dusting of the white stuff, and particularly stunning was Mount Fishtail that I drove past en route to the West Coast.

Westport is as gorgeous as ever; even the weather has been showing off.  A great little track, starting out over a picturesque board walk at the fishing wharves, heading through native bush, along a lagoon and around the harbour, has been constructed by volunteers as a walking and cycling path.  It’s well within call back distance of the Birthing Unit so very much accessible for me.  The car is loaded with lots of rocks from Granity beach.  Karyn will not doubt snaffle a few for her garden, and the rest will go along the vines.  They’re very much characteristic of the West Coast – mostly flat and round and in a range of colours.  Mitre 10 in Westport has been an unexpected delight on the plant front.  Luckily the bath in the Health Board flat is proving to be a perfect zone for plant holding and watering.

Auntie Sally is on her way and it's great that she'll be able to occupy Ti Kouka Cabin, which has been blocked out for guests while she's here.  I’m taking some leave so can spend time with her, wherever she wants to go.  Lucas has returned home for a couple of months before he leaves for a new job and life in Melbourne.  He’s working for the Aussie company remotely until the new year when he’ll join them in their office.  It’s lovely to have him back home, and he even comes in handy sometimes!  Billy’s living in the caravan at work and comes home on his days off.  Sam’s busy with pre-Christmas band stuff but will be back in Blenheim in mid-December.  I’ve accepted a fixed term contract back with the Polytechnic next year, which I’ll do on top of my Health Board hours.  So 2019 will be pretty hectic.  Here’s hoping that it’ll be possible to squeeze in enough time for gardening, processing and outdoor life, and a tipple or two of the homemade variety.